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Q & A
An Unlikely Path
VSGA member Mark Newell ’ s deep love of golf started later in life — he ’ ll channel that passion into his new role as USGA president by CHRIS LANG
MCLEAN ’ S MARK NEWELL is a VSGA member at two private clubs — Robert Trent Jones Golf Club and Army Navy Country Club . But Newell ’ s golf roots are decidedly more muni than country club .
“ I got into the game as a regular , recreational player on public golf courses ,” Newell said . “ I didn ’ t belong to a club . No one in my family played golf — I played football , baseball and basketball in high school . But I went out in the summertime and hacked around a bit and came to love it .
“ I never really got the bug to play until later on , when I was near 40 . … I became one of those early Saturday morning golfers who joined a group of people that played together for almost 20 years . My strongest memories were how playing together strengthened our friendships . I think I ’ ve played 60 courses in the metropolitan D . C . area . We were on the munis and the daily-fee courses , just always having a great time .”
Soon , a desire to volunteer developed . An eight-year member of the USGA executive committee , Newell was formally elected as the USGA ’ s 65th president at the organization ’ s annual meeting in February . He spoke to Virginia Golfer about his presidency .
An excerpt of that Q-and-A follows . A full transcript can be found at VSGA . org .
On Feb . 3 , Newell was elected as the USGA ’ s 65th president .
VG : How does your background , having grown up playing more public than private golf , shape the way you approach your USGA work ? MN : It helps me have a perspective , and it ’ s certainly a part of what the USGA is all about . We need to make sure to take care of the entire game . A lot of what we do with our championships , a lot of the focus that we have in terms of rules changes , has to do with the elite game , and for good reason . But as a governing body and as a leader in the sport , our role is to take care of everyone who plays the game and to make it a great game . I do think I bring an understanding of what it ’ s like for that common golfer who is out there .
VG : What drew you into volunteering for the USGA ? MN : I was an avid follower and player of the game , and I read a lot about the history . I had some books about the rules . But I was not a long-term USGA volunteer . I got involved as I came into the executive committee , first as volunteer general counsel and then on the committee itself . I quickly became really passionate about what can be contributed by volunteers . I was in awe of people who had given decades of their lives to this and made it a focal point of their experience . So I got involved because it seemed like it would be a really good way to give back .
VG : What have been the most challenging and satisfying aspects of working on the Rules overhaul for 2019 ? MN : The biggest challenge was to create the opportunity … to have the time to ask ourselves the hard questions . We went back
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14 V IRGINIA G OLFER | M ARCH / A PRIL 2018 vsga . org